Tiger LilyӪs is a mainstay in GreenwichӪs home-d̩cor circles.
But Samantha Knapp has aspirations that go far beyond the stylish 3,700 square feet the home-design studio and custom workshop her family”™s longtime business calls home.
“We”™re just trying to go from local to a little broader customer base,” she said.
A snapshot of the past couple of months gives a telling glimpse into Knapp”™s efforts. In late March, she had a booth at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in Manhattan, a prestigious showcase for the latest in the field. There, Tiger Lily”™s booth was filled with one-of-a-kind designs ranging from a geometric-shaped ottoman covered in Mongolian sheepskins to a classic slipper chair boasting hot-pink tufting.
In April, she was hosting yet another design lecture at the National Arts Club in Manhattan, where she serves as a co-chair of the Decorative Arts Committee.
Knapp also created a room for Housing Works”™ Design on a Dime 2013, a fundraising event and design showcase where Tiger Lily”™s of Greenwich for Robert Allen presented a playful, creative update on “The Wizard of Oz.”
It”™s all about getting Tiger Lily”™s more exposure, Knapp said, but also sharing the stories behind the designs.
“It”™s important to me to just make it really personal, that there”™s still a real thought behind everything we do.”
Catching up with Knapp at the company flagship, a burst of creativity tucked in an industrial corner of town, she talked about this road that finds her mixing an unwavering determination with a clear, artistic vision. And it”™s one that”™s shared.
Tiger Lily”™s is a Knapp family affair, a company started by her mother, Betsy Knapp, more than 20 years ago.
“She was the original do-it-yourselfer,” Knapp says of her mother. “She”™s got an eye.”
Knapp”™s mother and stepfather, Robert Knapp, are actively involved in the business that outgrew a space on Putnam Avenue a few years ago.
Today, Betsy Knapp keeps her finger on client relationships and projects and is a great finder of vintage and antique pieces, with her husband handling everything from the financial side to the day-to-day details.
“I”™m definitely running my side of the show,” Samantha said. “The diversification that we needed to keep going had to happen.”
And that drive seems innate.
“None of us are technically ASID or whatever,” Knapp said, referring to credentials of the American Society of Interior Designers. “We”™re street designers.”
In fact, Knapp came to the business three years ago as a second act.
“It”™s amazing for me because I”™m self-taught,” she explained. “I was a journalist.”
Broadcast stints at television stations around the country culminated with a move to WCBS-TV in New York.
“I had the dream job,” she said. Six months later, with cutbacks and no contract, she was done.
Trying to decide what to do ”“ and not moving forward ”“ her stepfather encouraged her to join Tiger Lily”™s, a career switch that still makes her laugh.
“I actually failed interior design in Greenwich High School.”
Today, there is no shortage of things being accomplished at Tiger Lily”™s. There is on-site custom upholstery and furniture design under way. Home accents and accessories fill the showroom, an airy space that includes surprises at every turn. The eye jumps from one vignette to another, an artful jumble of centuries and styles, fabrics and textures.
“We shop for vintage finds and we bring them in and refurbish them,” Knapp said. She sells them both in-house and online through a variety of sources.
A quick glance might yield a Colonial-style bench or Asian figurine, an anchor-themed Melamine plate or an oversize clock originally used at swimming meets.
There are rattan ceiling chairs and quirky sconces and the most formal of European chairs covered in cowhide.
“I really don”™t like anything to match that well,” Knapp explained.
Customers can choose an accent or have an entire room done.
A large workshop with all work done on-site is what makes Tiger Lily”™s stand out, Knapp says.
A sofa in the workroom features not only a lushly textured fabric but a trim so sleek and slender it”™s barely noticeable. But it is, a fine detail that sums up the whole approach here.
“This is what makes it go from something anybody can get to what makes it super personal, what nobody else has.”
She”™s also become an expert at staging, helping create inviting interiors for properties up for sale.
“At the end of the day, I”™m trying to grow a brand. If you”™ve got an idea, I”™m down.”
And she”™s also vocal, as in a provocative blog that traces the ups and downs of the business.
Every bit, after all, raises the exposure.
“We”™re just trying to get people in and excited about what we do.”
For more on Tiger Lily”™s at 154 Prospect St. in Greenwich, call (203) 629-6510 or visit tigerlilysgreenwich.com.
